


Balance

by jadejedi



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Afterlife, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Light Angst, Post TLJ, TRoS doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:28:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23413096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadejedi/pseuds/jadejedi
Summary: Anakin watches the galaxy from beyond the world, and reflects on his life, his children, and the Force.
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Kudos: 17





	Balance

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a brief reflection on what I think the afterlife is like for Anakin. A lot of the ideas on the Force come from the Legends NJO idea of a Unified Force. Thanks for reading, I always love to hear what you think!

It probably wouldn’t have come to the surprise of Anakin’s early instructors in the Temple that it took actually dying for him to truly feel at one with the Force for the first time in his, well, in his existence. 

When he’d been alive, he’d struggled to find that peace that seemed to come to other Jedi so easily. He’d tried to find it in meditation, in combat, in friendship, in hatred, in violence. 

The only other time he’d ever felt this at peace was when he’d made the decision to save his son. He’d found it in what the Jedi had so long warned him of: love.

Love, he now realized, was as much a part of the Force as hatred. His love for his son, his daughter, his wife. His hatred for his master, his hatred of what he’d become. The Force flowed through it all, holding the universe in balance. 

Here, beyond the mortal plane, Anakin was at peace. Existence, here, was very different from life. On the edges between existence and oblivion, he existed non-corporeally. He had thoughts, and feelings, but no form. He was alone.

But towards the center, towards life, he had a form, and he could see those around him. Those he’d known in life, and wanted to see him, as well. He was still mostly alone.

Not totally alone. Master Yoda, for one, liked to pester him with conversation. Obi-Wan would stand regretfully by his side as they watched the galaxy continue on. And Padmé. Padmé was with him, always. 

He knew that he could never make amends for his actions, especially to her, but this plane of existence, it wasn’t about amends. It was just about peace.

And so they watched their children live out their lives, in their triumphs and in their mistakes. 

Luke, for all that he was like himself, carried himself with a grace and wisdom he could have only gotten from Padmé, from Shmi, as he helped rebuild the galaxy and brought back the Jedi. Not an easy task, to rebuild a fallen Order, when you weren’t sure what had made them fall in the first place.

And Leia, who carried the same desire for justice and democracy in her heart that Padmé always had. First building up a New Republic as its Head of State, and then defending it as its General when old enemies reared their heads with new names. 

The Empire, the First Order. It was all the same, to Anakin. Beings wanting power over something else. Humans, wanting power over aliens. Emperors and Supreme Leaders, wanting power over the weak. Himself, wanting power over the Force. 

It broke his heart to see his grandson worship the fallen husk he’d become. To see his mistakes venerated as victories, and his victories mourned as failure. 

It broke his heart to see his son tempted, for even a moment, by the easy path, not by the dark side, but by arrogance and fear. 

For there was no darkside, nor a light. It was just the Force. Every emotion, every desire: the Force. Anger could be just, and love could be selfish. The Force was neither good nor evil. It just was. 

To be tempted was normal. The more power a being possesses, the more temptation to abuse it. And Luke was so powerful. More powerful than him. He achieved in life the balance Anakin could only achieve in death. But that did not mean that there was no temptation.

A moment of temptation, like he knew Luke had experienced on the Second Death Star, like he himself had experienced in Palpatine’s office. Once again, Luke had proved himself stronger than his father, by rejecting that fear and arrogance. 

But it had been too late.

His heart broke to see the happiness his daughter had found with Solo to be ripped away from her with her son. To see the galaxy she’d worked so hard to free try and pull itself back into chains.

Anakin knew, better than most, that sometimes choosing old chains was easier. 

Yet, if there was anything Anakin knew better than anyone: the Force would have its balance.

So for years, they watched as Luke languished alone on an island, clinging to a past he refused to face, until the girl, Rey, came, to rescue him from himself.

They watched as the Force called to her, as Luke tried to explain to her the truth of the balance, and as he finally learned to accept the past, and learn from it. Master Yoda interfered, as he was so fond of doing. 

They watched as Rey took her first steps as the beginning of a new Order, and as Luke took his last steps as the end of the old, and they welcomed him into their arms.


End file.
